SCOTTSDALE – Arizona lost to Stanford 5-4 on Saturday at Scottsdale Stadium, ending the Wildcats’ run in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Both of the Cats’ losses in the tournament came against the top-seeded Cardinal, who will play in the championship game Sunday night against Oregon State or UCLA.
Arizona (37-23) now awaits the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Monday. The Wildcats are expected to make the field of 64. They were 35th in RPI entering Saturday.
Arizona did suffer a concerning injury, however.
While catcher Daniel Susac returned to the lineup after having to exit early Friday because of a stomach ailment, slugging left fielder Chase Davis went down with a shoulder injury in the bottom of the first inning.
Davis, who leads the Wildcats with 16 home runs, slammed into the wall and jammed his left shoulder while catching Braden Montgomery’s towering sacrifice fly. After being tended to by a trainer, Davis remained in the game. But Tyler Casagrande pinch hit for him to lead off the second.
Davis, who’s a left-handed thrower, returned to the dugout with an ice pack on his shoulder.
Stanford’s first-inning run came without the benefit of a hit. Freshman right-hander Anthony Susac walked the first two batters he faced and four in all in two-plus innings. It was the second time in three starts that Susac walked four in three or fewer innings. He also walked the first batter of the game on four pitches for the fourth time in five outings.
Susac allowed only one hit – a two-run homer by Carter Graham after Brock Jones had walked to lead off the third. It was Graham’s team-leading 20th home run of the season and his first hit of the tournament. The homer gave Stanford a 3-2 lead.
Arizona had gone ahead in the top of the third. Daniel Susac singled to drive in Mac Bingham. Nik McClaughry then scored on a wild pitch.
Stanford expanded its lead to 5-2 with runs in the fifth and eighth. The Wildcats scored twice in the ninth inning to make it 5-4.
With two outs, nobody on and Arizona down by one, Daniel Susac singled. Cameron LaLiberte pinch-ran for him and advanced to second on a balk. Stanford then intentionally walked Tanner O’Tremba to set up a left-on-left matchup between reliever Quinn Mathews and Casagrande. Casagrande popped out to third to end the game.
